Hair clipper having blade illumination and field wire strain relief

ABSTRACT

A hair clipper having a vibratory motor with a laminated field core is formed on a plastic bobbin which has a snap-in lamp socket projecting therefrom. The vibratory motor is enclosed in a plastic housing which has a transparent panel that is positioned so that the lightbulb which is inserted in the light socket will be positioned to illuminate the cutting blades. The laminated field core is positioned with its longitudinal axis running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing of the clipper so that a housing with an elongated shape is provided.

United States Patent 1191 Artin et al.

[ HAIR CLIPPER HAVING BLADE ILLUMINATION AND FIELD WIRE STRAIN RELIEF[75] Inventors: Robert Lee Artin; Robert Paul Petroske, both ofMenomonee Falls, Wis.

[73] Assignee: John ()ster Manufacturing Co.,

Milwaukee, Wis.

[22] Filed: Apr. 29, 1971 [2]] Appl. No.: 138,719

1451 July 3 1, 1973 3/1970 Moret 310/73 Primary Examiner-R. SkudyAttorney-George R. Clark "[57] ABSTRACT A hair clipper having avibratory motor with a laminated field core is formed on a plasticbobbin which has a snap-in lamp socket projecting therefrom. The vibra-[52] {1.8. CI. 310/73, 310/50 ry mo r i enclose in a plastic housingwhich has a [51] Int. Cl. H02k 11/00 ran p rent pan l that is po i ionedso th t the light- [58] Field of Search 310/66, 73, 50, 47, lb wh h isinsert d in he ligh ock t will e posi- 310/81, 36, 37 tioned toilluminate the cutting blades. The laminated field core is positionedwith its longitudinal axis run- [56] References Cited ning parallel tothe longitudinal axis of the housing of UNITED STATES PATENTS theclipper so that a housing with an elongated shape 2,310,166 2/1943 Way310/73 2,288,183 6/1942 Dalkowitz 310/73 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 4 i44 jg f 5 094,10 .116 Z /5 1;

115' 692 I I 1 /11 a O t a 1 1 7 o t 4 -.1 3 1 1 I 4 i 114 75a H 76, 330 7/ I I 74 59 if (I! 7; f Z6 44 w HAIR CLIPPER HAVING BLADEILLUMINATION AND FIELD WIRE STRAIN RELIEF BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates to electric hairclippers and, more specifically,to an electric hair clipper which is provided with a snap-in lamp forblade illumination. Since hair clippers will be used at variouslocations in which the illumination will vary substantially, it isdesirable to provide a self-contained blade illumination lamp in theclipper. The blade illumination provisions must be of a low cost, andthey must not interefere with the operation or the balance of theclipper.

A woman's dry shaver which employs a light that is supported within theshaver housing and a lens for diffusing the light from the bulb isdescribed in Spohr U.S. Pat. ,No. 3,432,652. In this dry shaver, thelongitudinal axis of the field core is parallel to the longtidualdimension of the shaving head. The lightbulb inthe shaver of the Spohrpatent is mounted intermediate the ends of the laminated field'core at apoint approximately midway between the ends along the longitudinal axisof the core. A stamped bracket, which is secured to the frame by a pairof tabs which extend through openings in the bracket, is required tosupport the lightbulb. The plastic diffusing lens which is inserted inthe side of the housing has a forward portion which allows light fromthe bulb to be directed towards the cutting edge of the shaver.

since the preferable shapefor a woman's dry shaver is thin andrelatively flat, as shown in the Spohr patent, while the preferableshape for a hair clipper is generally rectangular and elongated, as'shown in the Niemela U.S. Pat. No. 3,493,793 which is assigned to thesame assignee as the present invention. Mounting of a lamp on a hairclipper such as that shown in the Niemela patent in the manner describedin the Spohr patent would be bulky and hard to hold.'The shape and feelof'a hair clipper is very important since it must be capable of usecontinuously by professional barbers without fatigue for many hours. Inaddition, the screw-in type of lamp bulb and socket and the stampedbracket are more costly and larger in size than is desirable in suchshavers.

.Another example of an electrically operated dry shaver that employs abulb illumination means is shown in .Iepson et al..U.S. Pat. No.3,389,323. In the shaver of this patent, the longitudinal axis of thefield core is parallel to the longitudinal dimension of the shavinghead. However, the bulb and socket are of a costly and relativelyspace-consuming screw-in design. Furthermore, a separate bracket must besecured to the pole pieces of the motor. It is desirable in a hairclipper to employ a lamp for illumination of the cutting edges of theclipper wherein the lamp is of the snap-in type and.

the lamp socket is formed integrally with the plasticv A further objectof the present invention is to provide an illumination means for amotorized device wherein a lamp socket for a snap-in lightbulb extendsfrom an end plate of a bobbin which preferably is integrally formed withthe lamp socket of an insulating material.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a strain relieffor the field core wire of a motor by means of a pocket that extendsfrom the bobbin on which the core wire is wound and a resilient metalconnector that fits into the pocket and has the core wire securedthereto.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide animproved strain relief for a motorized device wherein a resilient maleconnector is inserted into a pocket which extends from an end plate of abobbin on which the field core wires of the motor are wound and whichpreferably is integrally formed with the pocket of an insulatingmaterial.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS I of the hair clipper.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the armature and the field core of the motor.

. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings,there is shown in FIG. 1 a hair clipper designated generally byreference numeral 11. The hair clipper 11 includes a housing 12 which ismade up of an upper housing member 13 and a lower The forward end of theelongated housing 12 r eceives a blade set 18 which consists of a combl9 and a cutter 21 which is pressed into shearing engagement with thecomb 19 by means of a biasing spring 22. The

biasing spring 22 is a frame member having a plastic bearing portion 23secured on its outer end for sliding Y engagement with agroove 21aformed in the cutter 21.

At its inner edge, the biasing spring 22 is secured to the lower housingmember 14 by means of screws 24.

. The comb l9 and the cutter 21 are provided with teeth 19a and 21b,respectively, along their abutting outer edges as is best shown in FIGS.1 and 2. The 3 comb 19 is supported for movement relativeto the lowerhousing-member 14 by means of a blade support 26. The blade support 26extends across the bottom of the housing member 14 and has inwardlyturned ends 26a which are received in slots in the side wall of housingmember 14 permitting the support 26 to slide in the plane of the bladeset 18. The comb 19 is secured to the blade support 26 by means ofscrews 27. The position of the blade support and the comb 19 iscontrolled by means of lever 28 which has on its inner face eccentricmeans to move the blade support 26 as the lever 28 is rotated. This typeof control is old and well known in the art and serves to change therelative position of the comb 19 with respect to the cutter 21 so thatthe barber may cut hair very short when the blade set is positioned, asshown in FIG. 4, or cut hair longer when the comb is displaced furtheroutwardly with respect to the cutter 21.

Mounted within the enclosure 16 is a motor 30 which includes a field orstator 31 and an oscillating armature 32. The armature 32 is supportedfor oscillating movement by means of a bearing pin 34 which is securedto the lower housing member 14 by having its lower end molded into theplastic housing member 14. The armature itself includes an oilimpregnated bearing bushing 35 which is secured to a nylon frame orcarrier 36. The carrier 36 is formed with an internal pocket 36a inwhich is received a permanent magnet 37 and a pair of pole pieces 38 and39. The pole pieces 38 and 39 are elongated members of magneticallypermeable material such as soft iron and are formed at their outer endswith crescent shaped poles 38a and 39a which define a pair of salientpole faces 38b and 380 and 39b and 390, respectively. Thus, each polepiece has a pair of salient pole faces formed by the crescent shapedpoles on the outer ends thereof. The permanent magnet 37 is polarized sothat the pole pieces 38 and 39 are magnetized to the opposite polarity.As a consequence, the salient pole faces 38b and 380 formed on the pole38a will be polarized to the opposite polarity from the other armaturepole.39a having salient pole faces 39b and 396.

In order to assemble the pole pieces 38 and 39 to the nylon carrier 36,the pole pieces are first inserted into the pocket 36a. They are thenspread apart until suitable retaining ribs 38d and 39d engagecorresponding notches in the nylon carrier 36. The permanent magnet withthe springs 44, they may be filled with foam plastic material 47. Themotor field 31 is supported within the motor enclosure 16 by means of asheet metal member 50 which is the field supporting frame. The member 50serves not only to support the field 31 but also accurately locates thefield 31 with respect to the armature 32. This accurate location'of thefield is accomplished by locating the frame 50 from the bearing pin 34.An opening 51 in the frame 50 receives the upper end of the bearing pin34 as shown in FIG. 2. The frame 50-is secured to the lower housingmember 14 by means of four screws 52 which extend through openings inthe corners of the frame 50. The field 31 is riveted to the frame 50 bymeans of the rivets 53 which also retain the laminations in assembledrelation.

The field 31 includes an E-shaped core 55 made of laminations ofmagnetically permeable material which are retained together and securedto the frame 50 by means of the rivets 53 as explained above. The E-shaped core 55 has a pair of outer legs 56 and a central leg 57, thecentral leg being substantially thicker than the outer legs andterminating in a pair of salient pole faces 57a and 57b. The outer legsof the core 55 terminate in salient poles 56a and 56b. Surrounding thec'entral leg 57 of the core 55 is the coil 58 which includes a plasticbobbin 59 and conventional insulated windings. When the coil 58 isenergized by current flowing in either direction, it will inducemagnetic flux which will cause the salient pole faces on the center leg57 to be magnetized to one polarity while the salient poles 56a and 56bon the outer legs will be magnetized to the opposite polarity. The fieldwill then have two pairs of 37 is then inserted downwardly into thepocket 36a thereby locking the pole pieces 38 and 39 against removal ordisplacement. The frictional engagement between the permanent magnet 37and the pole pieces 38 and 39 within the pocket 36a tends to prevent itsremoval from the pocket 36a. In addition, the strong magnetic force ofthe permanent magnet 37 tends to retain it within the pocket 36a.

The nylon carrier 36 of the armature 32 is formed with a driving lever41 which extends radially from the bearing pin 34 in a directionopposite from the pe'rmanent magnet 37 and the pole pieces 38 and 39.The cutter 21 is formed with a slot 21c which receives the end of thedriving lever 41. As the armature 32 oscillates about the axis of thebearing pin 34, the cutter 21 is reciprocated in shearing engagementwith the comb 19. As is conventional in the hair clipper art, the areaaround the driving lever 41, where it extends outwardly from the motorenclosure 16, is surrounded by a plastic foam 42 which prevents theentrance of hair clippings into the motor 16. I

The armature 32 is biased to a central position by means of coil springs44 which are compressed between the lower housing member 14 and thenylon carrier 36. The housing member 14 is formed with a pair ofU-shaped recesses or spring seats which receive the outer ends of thesprings 44. The inner ends of the springs 44 are received on locatingbosses 46 which are formed integrally with the nylon carrier 36. Todampen vibration noises which otherwise might be associated oppositelypolarized pole faces, and oscillation of the motor will begin.

In analyzing the operation of the hair clipper 11, it should beunderstood that the device in intended to be energized by an alternatingcurrent power source such as the conventional 60 cycle volt powersupply. The coil 58 receives current flowing first in one direction andthen in the other direction in each half cycle. This causes the polarityof the field poles to be reversed each half cycle. It should beappreciated that the armature poles will, of course, always remainpolarized in the same manner which has arbitrarily been shown in thefigures as the pole piece 38 polarized south and the pole piece 39polarized north. When the coil 58 receives current such that the centralleg 57 is polarized north, the armature 32 tends'to rotate clockwise byvir-' tue of the attraction between the salient pole faces 39c and 56aand pole faces 38c and 57b and the repulsion between the salient polefaces 39b and 57a and pole faces 38b and 56b. The repelling andattracting forces contribute equally. to the output torque when averagedover each entire cycle. There is some tendency from the armature 32 tooverride because of its inertia moving past the field poles. At thispoint, the attractionexerted by the poles retards the armature movementbefore the current flow changes and reverses the polarity.

This action combined with the action of the springs 44 tends to providea smooth reversal in the direction of the motion of the armature 32 witha minimum amount of vibration being produced. An important designcriteria is the dimensioning of each armature pole 38a and 39a with awidth equal to approximately the distance between the outer pole face56a or 56b and the adjacent center pole face 57a and 57b, respectively.This arrangement permits alignment of the field poles vto exert maximumtorque in either attracting or repelling the adjacent armature poles.

The forward end of the upper housing member 13 has a lower plane surface61 with a recess 62 formed angle with respect to the upper housingmember 13 between two side walls' 81. The plastic bobbin 59 consists ofa central tube portion 83 on which the coil wire 58 is wound. One end ofthe wire of the coil 58 is electrically connected to a resilientU-shaped male connector 84 which is rigidly held in place in theoverhanging U- shaped plastic pocket 78 that is formed integrally withthe rear plate 85 of the bobbin 59. The pocket 78 has a bottom wall 86and a U-shaped side wall 87. Positioned inwardly of the U-shaped wall 87is a cavity 88 formed by the side wall 87 and an upstanding boss 96.

' The boss 96 is positioned and shaped so that a U- used to hold theupper housing member 13 and the lower housing member 14 together are thescrews which are located on the rear of the unit. The locking spring 63enables the upper and lower housing members to be locked together toallow the illumination window 68 to be positioned very close to theblade set 18. In addition, the use of screws would detract from theappearance of the clipper.

The hair clipper 11 is provided with a power cord 71 which is connectedto the end of the hair clipper opposite from the end on which the bladeset 18 is mounted. To control the supply of power to the motor 30, thereis provided an on/off switch 72. The switch 72 is secured to one end ofthe field supporting frame 50 by.

means of a rivet 70. Suitable leads are provided to interconnect thepower cord 71, the switch 72 and the field coil 58. It should be notedthat the assembly of the parts to the housing 12 is simplifiedconsiderably by having the switch 72 mounted integrally with the coil 31and the supporting frame 50. The switch 72 is a slide switch having anoperating button 73 and is located within the enclosure 16.

To permit operation of the switch 62 when the housing members 13 and 14are assembled together, a switch control member 74 is provided. Theswitch controlvmember 74 is formed with a knob 75 which is exposed forfinger operation on the outer surfaces of the housing 12. The knob 75has a post 75a that extends in an opening 75b in the lower housingmember 14. The operating button 73 of switch 72 is located in a recess76 between two inwardly extending grips 77 of the control member 74. Thecontrol member 74 is clamped between the housing members 13 and 14 withsufficient clearance provided so that it may move between its variousoperating positions to control the on/off switch 72, Thus, the controlmember 74 provides a simple and effective means of operating the switch72. This arrangement permits the use of a simple inexpensive slideswitch which may be mounted directly to the motor 30 thereby simplifyingthe assembly of the components to the housing 12. At the same time, thesimple control member 74 provides an attractive and easily operatedcontrol for switch 72. The bobbin 59 on which the coil 58 is woundincludes a simplified means for making the lead connections to the veryfine coil wire of the coil 58. This means includes a plastic pocket 78which is formed integrally with the end wall of the bobbin 59 and whichwill'be subsequently described in more detail.

In accordance with the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, theplastic bobbin 49, on which the coil 58 is wound, supports a removablesnap-in lightbulb 80 which is used for illuminating the blade of thehair clipper through the transparent illumination window 68. Theillumination window 68 is mounted at an shaped groove 89 is providedbetween the side wall 87 and the boss 96. The metal connector 84 iswedged into the U-shaped groove 89 and is rigidly held in place by meansof outwardly extending tabs 90 which grip the plastic as the connector84 is pushed into place so as to resist removal of the connector 84. Theconnector 84 is positioned in the pocket 78 so that its outer end 91 isspaced sufficiently far from the outer portion of the side wall 87 andfrom the boss 96 so that connection may be made with a female connector69a through the connecting lead 69'to the switch 72. Connection betweenthe coil 58 and the male connector 84 is provided by an end of the coil58 which runs through the notch 92in the rear plate 85 of the bobbin 59and the notch 93 in the connector 84 which is in alignment with thenotch 92 when the connector 84 is in place in pocket 78. The end of thecoil 58 is then wrapped and soldered around the outer end 94.

In the previously mentioned Niemela patent, an overhanging plasticpocketwas provided in which the connecting. lead was drawn into a loopand positioned in coil wire provided a measure of strain relief if thewire was properly positioned when the clipper was assembled. However, ifthe wire was not properly positioned, a slight variation in position ofthe connecting wire during assembly could result'in a broken connectionbetween the connecting lead and the coil wire. The improved U-shapedplastic pocket 78 of the present invention, in combination with theresilient connector 84, provides an improved strain relief connectionwherein thestrain relief is obtained with a resilient metallic connector84 which is secured in the plastic pocket 78. Connection of the femaleconnector on the lead 69 to the male connector 84 can, therefore, beaccomplished without placing any strain on the end of the coil 58 inaccordance with the present invention.

The pocket 78 is designed so that the outer portion of the side wall 87has a generally triangular section 95 which abuts the male connector 84to provide an abutment which maintains the end of the connector 84positioned in parallel spaced relation to the edge of the side wall 87to provide sufficient clearance so that the fe male connector 69a on thelead 69 may be receivedon the male end of the connector 84. The boss 96is provided with a generally elongated portion 960 which has a roundedend 97 that contacts the surface of the connector 84. As best shown inFIG. 4, triangular ribs 780 are provided which extend between the bottomwall 86 of the plastic pocket 78 and the rear plate of the bobbin 59 tohelp to support the pocket 78. The bottom wall 86 of the pocket 78 alsorests on the sheet metal member 50 for support.

At the opposite end from plate 85, the bobbin .59 is formed with a frontplate 98 which has an integrally formed snap-in lamp holder 99 thereon.The lamp holder 99 consists of a rectangular plastic holder 100 intowhich a pair of resilient metal connectors 101 and 102 for receiving theterminals of the snap-in lightbulb 80 are wedged. It is preferred thatthe'connectors 101, 102 are designed so that they have three resilientarms 103, 104 and 105 which engage the top wall 106, the side walls 107and the bottom wall 108 of the plastic holder 100, respectively. Theresilient arms 103 and 105 are bent so as to provide a resilientelectrical connection to the leads 110 which extend from the lightbulb80. The plastic holder 100 is also provided with an aperture 111 throughwhich the glass base.1l2 formed on the lightbulb 80 is inserted.Electrical connection to the connectors 101 and 102 is provided byextending ears 113 and 114 which are formed to extend through slots 115and 116, respectively, in the side walls 107. The extending ear 114 ofthe snap connector 102 is connected to one end of the coil wire 58, andthe extending ear 113 of thesnap connector 101 is connected to the thirdwire of coil 58 and to the lead 118, the other end of which is connectedto the line voltage through the switch 72. The lightbulb 80 is thusconnected across a portion of the field winding in order to provideenergization of the bulb when the switch 72 is closed and the motor 30is energized.

Triangular ribs 120, the edges of which engage the front surface 121 ofthe front plate 98 and the bottom wall 108 of the holder. 100, areprovided to support the plastic holder 100. The protuberances 122, 123,124 and 125 on the upper and lower. walls of the plastic holder 100are'provided to hold the connectors 101, 102 in place in the holder 100.The protuberance 122 extends along the width of the bottom wall 108 andabuts the arm 105 of the connector 102, and it ends along the entirewidth of the wall 108. The protuberance 123 extends along the width ofthe upper wall 106 and abuts the arm 103 of the connector 101. The shortprotuberance 124 at the rear of the upper wall 106 abuts the rearsection of the arm 103 of the connector 102, and the short protuberance1,25 at the rear of the lower wall 108 similarly abuts the rear portionof the arm 105 of the connector 101.

In the light of the description presented above, it is evident thatthere is provided a simple, compact and inexpensive means of supportingan illuminating means for a hair clipper within the motor enclosinghousing. By a snap-in bulb socket integrally formed with the coilbobbin, a minimum amount of space is required for the socket and itsmounting. In addition, the use of simple snap-in connectors 101 and 102provides an inexpensive means for mounting the bulb 80 with respect tothe motor 30 and for electrically interconnecting the bulb to-a sourceof power. Since the plastic holder which forms the lamp holder 99 isformed integrally with the coil bobbin 59, it adds little or nothing tothe overall cost of the hair clipper. Thus, the illuminating feature isobtained fora very minimal cost involving only the cost of the bulb 80,the lens 68 and the connectors 101 and 102.

While there has been illustrated and described a par ticular embodimentof the present invention, it will be understood that changes andmodifications within the scope of the present invention may occur tothose skilled in the art, and it is, therefore, contemplated by theappended claims to cover all such changes and bobbin, an illuminationwindow in said housing in'the' vicinity of said operating means andasnap-in lightbulb socket means extending from said illumination supportplate of said bobbin for receiving a lightbulb adapted for snap-inconnection with said socket means wherein said lightbulb illuminatessaid operating means during operation of said device.

2. An electric device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said illuminationsupport plate-of said bobbin and said socket means are integrally formedof electrically insulating material.

3. An electric device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said socket meanscomprises a holder having top, bottom, side and back walls and a pair ofmetallic connectors each of which has three resilient arms whichrespectively engage the top wall, the bottom wall and a side wall ofsaid holder and an extending ear which protrudes through an aperture inone of said walls of said holder so as to be exposed for electricalconnection thereto.

4. An electric device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said holdercomprises support ribs which extend be tween said illumination supportplate of said bobbin and the bottom wall of said holder.

* i i i

1. An electric device comprising operating means, a bobbin having anelongated axis and an illumination support plate which is positionednormal to said elongated axis of said bobbin, a vibratory motor fordriving said operating means having a moving armature and a stationaryfield having a coil which is wound on said bobbin, a housing whichencloses said motor and said bobbin, an illumination window in saidhousing in the vicinity of said operating means and a snap-in lightbulbsocket means extending from said illumination support plate of saidbobbin for receiving a lightbulb adapted for snap-in connection withsaid socket means wherein said lightbulb illuminates said operatingmeans during operation of said device.
 2. An electric device as setforth in claim 1 wherein said illumination support plate of said bobbinand said socket means are integrally formed of electrically insulatingmaterial.
 3. An electric device as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidsocket means comprises a holder having top, bottom, side and back wallsand a pair of metallic connectors each of which has three resilient armswhich respectively engage the top wall, the bottom wall and a side wallof said holder and an extending ear which protrudes through an aperturein one of said walls of said holder so as to be exposed for electricalconnection thereto.
 4. An electric device as set forth in claim 2wherein said holder comprises support ribs which extend between saidillumination support plate of said bobbin and the bottom wall of saidholder.